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Not a pet was stirring, not even the Cat;

The bathing suits were hung in the washroom with care,

In hopes that the sun would soon be there;

The adults were nestled all snug on the couch,

Having bevy’s and appys while watching the grouch; (yes Grinch but it didn’t rhyme with couch)

SB in her woollies, oh what a sight,

We’d just settled down, for the night,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the couch to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, rolled up the blinds and tripped on the trash.

The moon on the breast of the still rain flow, gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a traveling food truck, serving what is unclear,

With quite a handsome driver, so lively and slick, I knew in a moment it must be MY St. Nick. My eyes were a wonder at this vision below, and named off his wares as best that I know.

So Dashing, a Dancer, a Prancer, I’m clearly a Vixen! Oh cometh oh Cupid, my Donner oh Blitzen! (OK I will settle down now)

His eyes—how they twinkled! His dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, soon gave me to know I had JOY to spread.

So with that in mind thinking of you this Christmas, may 2023 be filled with richness.

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a fabulous 2023!!

You know you are blessed with great friends when it feels like yesterday when you last saw them, vs 4-6 years ago.

I had the pleasure of heading off to Hilton Head S Carolina on Sunday for an overnight visit with two old BMO colleagues and their spouses. The only friends missing were Barb who went back to Toronto for Christmas, and ER who decided to move to Scotland 14 months ago. Despite the missing two, we did enjoy the great company, great food, great conversations with many many laughing fits!

The view of CS/JS backyard and VERY short walk to the beach. Incredible

The Food and atmosphere

And the friends enjoying life

AS & KS made their way back to Toronto for Christmas on Monday and I headed back to Savannah. I can’t wait to see all these friends again. CS/JS I will be seeing soon as they are only a hour away. AS/KS I will see when they make their way back down to Florida in the New Year. Cheers to the NEXT TIME we will be together!!

Or also known as Barb’s last day here. BOO! Taco Tuesday turned out to be a real nice surprise. Not that it was Taco Tuesday, which was posted on the activity sheet, but that the taco shells were homemade! We both had a taco salad and the homemade taco bowl was exceptional! YAY!

We had a lazy day at the pool and Barb was able to spend quality time in the lazy river. Beautiful sunset as well to boot ! Tomorrow we are off to the airport to drop Barb off and pic up my rental car for the next month.

We are really liking this RV Park, Lazy river, pool, hot tubs, gym, tennis court, volleyball court, bocci court and steam room.

We pretty much have these water sports to ourselves when it is below 20C. In fact the first day when we were the only ones in the pool, people kept walking by and asking us about the water temp., which seemed sensible to us. What we discovered the next day, was that people were chatting about us being in the pool as it was only 15 outside…….when someone asked us where we were from, and we stated we were from Toronto……they started telling people walking by that it was the Canadian’s that were in the pool! Too funny really. I guess they really do think it is cold up north and therefor can withstand the high teens when outdoors.

Confusing? Well our new friends S&P K, asked us if we wanted to join them in Savannah to do the hop on hop off tour. We decided what a great idea to nail down what we wanted to do together before Barb flys home.

The trolly had 15 stops. We will have to do this again to capture everything, but here is a sample of Savannah Georgia

We also learned of the movies that had been filmed here, so had to take a couple of pics of some famous spots.

The lady Chablis is also known as The Grand Empress and The Doll. She really became famous when Clint Eastwood was looking for a Lady Chablis for his movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. When Clint met Lady Chablis, she apparently told him to look no further, that he had to use the REAL Lady Chablis in his movie. And that was that, she got the part and frankly was incredible. Her famous catchphrase in the movie which we loved, “Two tears in a bucket, motherfuck it”. Through the exposure of this movie, she became one of the first trans performers to be introduced to a wide audience.

The waving girl deserves some dialogue. The romantic tale of this girl is that she met a sailer and fell in love. He had to leave port but vowed to come back to her. So each day she greeted the ships with a wave hoping her love would be on the ship returning. She did this every morning and every night for 44 years, her love never returned. When she passed, it is said that 1,000’s of sailers came to her funeral. They knew her only as the waving girl.

The historical story: Florence Martus created a identity for herself by the simple act of waving at incoming ships entering the port of Savannah Georgia. Between 1887 and 1931, Martus would wave a handkerchief or lantern, depending on the time of day, to every single passing sailor and ship. As a young girl she became fascinated by the ships and began waving her handkerchief at them as they passed by. Sailors quickly took notice and returned her gesture with a simple wave from the ship. Regardless of the day/time Martus would wave either a towel during the day, or a lantern at night. Through the years she never stopped, continuing this practice for 44 years. Martus never missed a single ship. Sailors began to respond with three blasts of their whistle, acknowledging Martus every time. Ships looked out for Martus as they approached the port taking care to ensure they acknowledged her. She became quite the talk of the town amongst the sailors. Despite the sailors differences, they could always find common ground when talking about “the waving girl” who welcomed them in on their way into the port. Martus passed away in 1943 at 75 and her legacy continued to live on through the stories of many sailors. While only a few people ever met her, thousands knew her from a distance, and that was enough to make an impact on them. Just the simple action of waving to passers-by’s enchanted sailors, and her story was told worldwide.

Amazing what an act of kindness can do.

Yesterday was a great day of relaxation. We went to a spa for a facial and massage. Facial we all know what that is, but the massage was new to me. It was called Ashiatsu, which is a barefoot massage. It utilizes the body weight of the therapist and feet. There are two bars hanging from the ceiling that the therapist hangs onto in order to manage the pressure/weight of her body. In fact I couldn’t really tell that she was using her feet vs her hands which is incredible. While Barb & I agreed that we wouldn’t do it again, we also agreed it was a good experience and something different.

We then walked to a great BBQ place for lunch. The BBQ joint doesn’t utilize any freezers, so everything is freshly made daily. The smoked pork and chicken were great!

We then headed to the grocery store, via a liquor store which was next store. I was able to pick up my fav. Gin for less than in Canada, and the grocery store had our favourite Malbec Alamos for $8! Next week they have an extra 20% off a case…we won’t be in S Carolina but maybe Georgia will have the case sale.

Home had us walking Winston with Safiya in her backpack, and visiting the neighbours to see what they did for the day. Then we packed up the outside, given we knew it was going to rain today, and had a nice night indoors. Some final pics of the RV park.

Tomorrow we are off to Creek Fire RV resort in Savannah Georgia where I will stay for the next 2 months as Barb flys back home for 6-8 weeks for Christmas and her daughter VJs baby shower.

Here are some early morning views of our RV campground on our last day. Thanks to SK for taking these beauties!

This is out of order, sorry about this. Was in draft for some reason.

We have finally arrived at a place with palm trees on Nov 15th, which was before Charleston !

We are staying at a nice RV park right beside Barefoot Landing, which is a fabulous place along canals with shops, restaurants and bars. There is a tree lighting celebration on Sat. Night with fireworks and Santa so we will walk over to check it out.

There is one piece of information that we would like to share about driving in N Carolina before we continue on with the South. It seems there are some interesting rules regarding driving and your phone………

I wonder how young people get married here, and do you need parental consent?

I was informed recently that there were VERY few pictures of Barb and I on the blog. So first, we will do a better job of getting ourselves in the pics. Second, we will do a better job of posting pictures of us enjoying the adventure. Also included the fur babies, can’t leave them out!

On the way from Charleston to Hardeeville Barb insisted we go see the Angel Oak. This Oak tree was WELL worth the terrible drive down a small dirt road! This Oak tree is estimated to be in excess of 400-500 years old. It stands 66.5 feet tall and measures 28 feet in circumference. It produces shade that covers 17,200 square feet. From tip to tip its longest branch distance is 187 feet. INCREDIBLE !!! These pictures are really nothing, there is a reason this tree is called the most beautiful tree in the world. You can get a sense of its size by looking at the people in the pictures.

We are loving our RV park in Hardeeville, called Lake Jasper RV resort. We are by the lake which is inhabited by Alligators, which is a treat when Winston wants to constantly go in the water! He would make a good dinner, but not on our watch!

We have been swimming these past few days in the outdoor heated pool. It will be 21 today, and 27 tomorrow (feeling like 25) either way we are happy to be outdoors enjoying ourselves. This morning this was our view drinking our coffee.

There was this beside where I was sitting this morning……..

But really, who reads and obeys the signs anyway…..Let’s go back to serenity shall we?

Gullah, an African American ethnic group who predominantly live in the low country region of the U.S states of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, within the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. They are known for their food and the sweet grass baskets they make. Which can run you into the 1,000s of dollars. I almost tripped when I saw the prices, for a basket! But they are sturdy, sewn not woven, and will/can last a lifetime. So there is that when you consider the price tag.

The tour was good, but I couldn’t understand our guide 100% of the time. For instance, ‘Uh een crack mu teet’ means “I didn’t open my mouth”. I know totally obvious once you type it out……….

Here are some pictures of Charleston from the tour.

After the tour we just wandered around enjoying our surroundings.